Chapter 2: The Wild Wolf Gang

Chapter 2: The Wild Wolf Gang

Eating the meat of Sea Kings could indeed make one stronger.

After all, the strongest people in this world were known for their enormous appetites.

However, hunting Sea Kings wasn't easy. With his current ten-year-old body, Charlotte couldn't possibly defeat a Sea King.

For now, training was his top priority. Once he gained the ability to protect himself, he could venture into the sea to hunt Sea Kings.

The island Charlotte lived on was extremely small. The habitable area consisted only of a flat stretch by the harbor, home to about a thousand people.

Behind the harbor lay towering mountains, which covered 90% of the island and were uninhabited.

This made the mountains an ideal place for Charlotte to train and hunt.

As an orphan, Charlotte had never known his parents. He survived on aid from the town mayor's family, but his life was still harsh. It was why the original body had resorted to fishing at the seaside, only to be unlucky enough to get swept away by the waves.

Leaving his thatched hut, Charlotte grabbed a woodcutting machete without looking back and ventured into the vast mountains.

From now on, he set a small goal for himself—to conquer these mountains.

At first, he quenched his thirst with spring water and satisfied his hunger with various fruits, narrowly avoiding poisonous ones several times.

At those moments, it felt as though his mind issued a warning, like a Spidey Sense from his previous life.

But in this world, it was more akin to a form of future sight.

Using this danger sense, Charlotte managed to survive in the mountains. He wasn't thriving, but he was self-sufficient.

Occasionally, he set traps to catch prey and feast. Sometimes, he went down the mountain to trade fur for necessities like weapons.

This year of solitary training didn't make Charlotte feel lonely.

On the contrary, he was thrilled because he could tangibly feel himself growing stronger.

Every morning, he woke up feeling more powerful than the day before. His body was no longer the frail form that could be knocked down by a wave.

The most obvious sign was that he could now fight wild boars in the mountains head-on.

Moreover, every time he got injured, he only needed to eat a large meal, and he'd recover by the next day.

This convinced Charlotte of the extraordinary nature of the One Piece world.

After a year, conventional training methods no longer satisfied him.

Push-ups and running no longer posed a challenge, even if he did push-ups all day without feeling tired.

He needed to step up his training.

Carrying the precious animal pelts he'd collected over the past year, Charlotte descended the mountain.

At the harbor marketplace, people noticed a small, 1.5-meter-tall boy struggling to carry a load taller than himself, causing people around him to scatter.

"Isn't that Charlotte? Didn't he disappear?"

Some of the townspeople who recognized him murmured in confusion.

After all, Charlotte had spent nearly a year in the mountains, coming down only occasionally to purchase necessities, rarely showing his face.

Even the mayor wouldn't have been able to find him.

Ignoring the whispers, Charlotte spread out a blanket in a prominent spot at the harbor, laid out his pelts, and sat quietly, waiting for buyers.

People began to gather around him, pointing and talking, which annoyed Charlotte.

"Are you here to buy or not? If not, get lost and stop bothering me!" he shouted at the crowd.

The onlookers instantly fell silent, staring at Charlotte as if he were crazy.

This only irritated Charlotte further.

"Hey, kid! Setting up a stall here without permission? Do you know whose turf this is?"

A group of men had been watching Charlotte since he arrived with his pelts.

"It's the boss of the Wild Wolf Gang!"

At the mention of the gang, the crowd dispersed, leaving a clear path.

"Move aside! Make way!"

Four or five thugs from the gang shoved the onlookers away, creating an opening for a burly man with a thick gold chain around his neck and a gold tooth gleaming in his mouth.

Charlotte frowned, surprised.

He hadn't expected such a small town of just a thousand people to have a gang.

Still, he wasn't afraid.

"Hey, kid! Didn't anyone tell you? You have to pay a fee to set up a stall here."

The gang leader towered over Charlotte, inspecting the pelts spread out on the blanket.

"Well, well! These pelts are pretty good—no visible damage!"

The leader picked up two pelts, examining them with interest. They seemed to be fox pelts.

"Not bad. These two pelts will do as your fee!"

As he spoke, he moved to pocket the pelts.

But Charlotte was faster. He grabbed the leader's wrist, his gaze cold.

"Huh?"

The gang leader tried to yank his arm free but found he couldn't. His expression darkened.

"Pay up. Forty thousand berries for the two pelts," Charlotte said calmly.

Hearing the unfamiliar demand for payment, the gang leader burst out laughing, throwing his head back in amusement.

His lackeys, confused but eager to please, joined in the laughter.

"Hahaha! Pay? I, Bess, have never paid for anything in my life!"

Bess yanked his hand, expecting to throw Charlotte off, but the boy didn't budge.

"Looks like you're here to cause trouble," Charlotte said, standing up.

He tightened his grip on Bess's wrist, causing the man to stumble backward. Just as Bess reached for a dagger, Charlotte twisted his arm, slamming him to the ground.

The speed of the move left Bess disoriented, unable to react.

"Boss!"

The thugs rushed forward, brandishing knives and batons.

"You're dead, kid! You're dead!" Bess yelled, struggling under Charlotte's foot.

But Charlotte's grip was like a vise. No matter how much Bess squirmed, he couldn't break free.

The onlookers, watching in shock, whispered among themselves.

"This kid is done for. No one messes with the Wild Wolf Gang and lives to tell the tale."

Just as the crowd pitied Charlotte, he smiled.

Dodging swiftly, he took out all five thugs with just a few punches and kicks.

"Ow!"

"That hurts!"

The fallen men groaned in pain.

Bess, pinned under Charlotte's foot, stared in disbelief, as did the crowd.

"This… this…"

Everyone was stunned by Charlotte's effortless takedown.

Ignoring their reactions, Charlotte crouched down, yanked off the gold chain around Bess's neck, and removed the gemstone ring from his finger.

Then he punched Bess square in the mouth, making him howl in pain.

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